


Remade

by Morvidra



Category: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 2, Don't copy to another site, Gen, Missing Scene, Referenced Surgery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-16
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-11-19 03:00:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18130073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morvidra/pseuds/Morvidra
Summary: Elli Quinn adjusts to her new face.





	Remade

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kalirush](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalirush/gifts).



[](https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNMtz-KIuxcczR1QFLx2CjWW228ZYEEugEZXxhXlTpuRD0SF47fOkQBMM49Di3CGg?key=SHBqdkVKdHRxUUd5Ul9ONWQ4THRlQ2Z0ZjY5WXlB&source=ctrlq.org)

Elli stared into the mirror, bemused.

“Miles picked out the surgeon,” Mrs Naismith said from her seat by the hospital bed. “I don’t think he thought to provide a holo of your… former face.”

“I don’t think he had one,” Elli said. “… I don’t think _I_ had one.”

“Well, the surgeon did the best he could with the instructions Miles left,” Mrs Naismith said, sounding apologetic. “He did say you had an excellent bone structure to work off, though.”

“Ah. That’s nice to hear.” Elli’s hand touched her cheek, almost without thought. The bruising was still evident, but it would wear off in days or weeks, as all bruising did. The face though… the face was here to stay.

“Is it very different to your former appearance?” Mrs Naismith asked, sounding interested.

Elli tried to remember what her face had looked like, previously. It seemed longer ago than it should. “I never used to spend much time looking in mirrors, I guess,” she said at last. “The hair colour seems to be right. The nose is straighter – mine was a little snub.”

“Noses are always difficult,” Mrs Naismith said, nodding.

“My eyes were lighter,” Elli continued her catalogue. In a way it was reassuring to identify the differences. She wondered if Mrs Naismith knew that. 

“Longer lashes. Darker lashes too, come to think of it. The skin is… smoother. It’s not the way I would have chosen to get rid of my old acne scars, but I’m not actually complaining about their absence.”

Mrs Naismith huffed a laugh.

“Skin colour is much the same, although the skin tone is more even.” Elli tipped the mirror to the side. “And I never knew ears could really look like shells before.”

“I always thought it was a poetic exaggeration, myself,” Mrs Naismith said, leaning forward to see better. “Although I hadn’t seen yours, then,” she added. 

Elli let the mirror fall to the bed. “It’s very strange. I look like myself, in a way, but…”

“But?” Mrs Naismith inquired after a very long silence.

“The closest I can describe it is, I look like a picture of me, drawn by someone who had never seen me, based on a description by someone who had only seen me through a filter.” Elli shrugged helplessly. 

Mrs Naismith made a peculiar expression. “That sounds about right,” she said cryptically. 

“It’s beautiful, though.” Elli touched her cheek again. “I can’t quite seem to realise that it’s mine… that it’s my face that looks like this.”

“Give yourself a little time to adjust,” Mrs Naismith said kindly. “I’m sure it will sink in eventually.”

“I just don’t know why he spent all this money on fixing it,” Elli blurted out. “He could have got a cheaper job done that would have been serviceable – why spend a fortune on getting the very best… for me?”

Mrs Naismith reached out and patted Elli’s hand. “My dear, it’s very clear that you only knew my grandson briefly. But our family has a saying that I think covers the situation quite well.”

“Which is?”

“Anything worth doing,” Mrs Naismith quoted, “is worth doing well.”

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Purimgifts!
> 
> Image by [Sharon McCutcheon](https://pixabay.com/users/SharonMcCutcheon-10414043/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=4054923) from [Pixabay](https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=4054923)


End file.
